RATINGS RECAP: 10/5/16

ABC
8:00 The Goldbergs
Viewers: 6.2 million, 18-49 demo: 1.8
8:30 Speechless
Viewers: 6.0 million, 18-49 demo: 1.8
9:00 Modern Family
Viewers: 7.0 million, 18-49 demo: 2.2
9:30 Black-ish
Viewers: 5.2 million, 18-49 demo: 1.5
10:00 Designated Survivor
Viewers: 7.1 million, 18-49 demo: 1.6

CBS
8:00 Survivor
Viewers: 8.6 million, 18-49 demo: 1.9
9:00 Criminal Minds
Viewers: 7.6 million, 18-49 demo: 1.4
10:00 Code Black
Viewers: 5.9 million, 18-49 demo: 1.0

NBC
8:00 Blindspot
Viewers: 5.7 million, 18-49 demo: 1.3
9:00 Law & Order: SVU
Viewers: 5.8 million, 18-49 demo: 1.4
10:00 Chicago PD
Viewers: 6.2 million, 18-49 demo: 1.4

FOX
8:00 Lethal Weapon
Viewers: 6.6 million, 18-49 demo: 1.7
9:00 Empire
Viewers: 9.3 million, 18-49 demo: 3.4

CW
8:00 Arrow
Viewers: 1.9 million, 18-49 demo: 0.7
9:00 Frequency
Viewers: 1.4 million, 18-49 demo: 0.4

It was Black Wednesday for the networks as nearly everything was down, some horribly, and only two shows broke a 2.0 demo. ABC had the most steady week but four out of five shows were still down. The Goldbergs was down four tenths in viewers and a tenth in the demo. It's doing OK as an anchor but it just feels a little underwhelming. Probably the show with the best performance of the night was Speechless, which was down four tenths in viewers but even in the demo, holding its lead-in completely in the demo. This has been a fantastic fit in the sitcom lineup so far. At 9pm, Modern Family was down four tenths in viewers and a tenth in the demo. At 9:30pm, Black-ish was also down four tenths in viewers and a tenth in the demo like Family and Goldbergs. For Black-ish, this tied a series low. At 10pm, Designated Survivor took another step back, dropping nine tenths in viewers and two tenths in the demo. It was an OK week three drop and it still won the 10pm hour.

On CBS, Survivor was down six tenths in viewers and two tenths in the demo. Then the sky was falling for Criminal Minds, which tumbled 1.3 million viewers and a horrible half a demo point to a series low. This was a truly ugly performance for this show and CBS better hope this not a sign of things to come for the show without fired star Thomas Gibson. At 10pm, Code Black was down half a million viewers and two tenths in the demo, tying a series low. This was a bad performance too but not shocking when looking at the lead-in. It wasn't much better for NBC though Blindspot has been a surprising 8pm performer. It was up a tenth in viewers and even in the demo for a third week. It was awfully close in the demo to the two dramas that followed - who could have seen that coming? At 9pm, Law & Order: SVU was down three tenths in viewers and two tenths in the demo while Chicago PD closed out the night up a tenth in viewers but down a tenth in the demo.

It was another night of premieres for the CW but a pretty disappointing one. At 8pm, Arrow tied series lows for its premiere in a very underwhelming showing. It led into the premiere of Frequency which had a disappointing 0.4 start. The plus side is it was only a tenth behind No Tomorrow's Tuesday premiere despite a much lower lead-in. Finally on FOX, Lethal Weapon was down six tenths in viewers and three tenths in the demo as it appears to not be done dropping yet and is a little less promising now. At 9pm, Empire was down four tenths in viewers and two tenths in the demo. This was its lowest performance besides the Thanksgiving Eve performance last year but on a night where only one other show was a above a 2.0 demo, it looks pretty good.

WINNER OF THE NIGHT: Speechless (ABC)
LOSER OF THE NIGHT: Criminal Minds (CBS)